The Hague: The United Nations` highest court on Tuesday ruled that Serbia did not commit genocide in Croatia during the Balkan wars that followed the collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

Peter Tomka, president of the International Court of Justice, said that although Serb forces had committed crimes in Croatia between 1991 and 1995, Croatia had not shown that Serbia had intended to "destroy in whole or in part" the Croatian population in occupied territories.

The court was due to rule later on Tuesday on Serbia`s counterclaim that Croatia had committed genocide against Serbian populations.